I am nowhere near Rahul Dravid: Cheteshwar Pujara

Bangalore, Aug 18: Having made a comeback to the national Test side, Saurashtra's Cheteshwar Pujara would be replacing Rahul Dravid in the Test team, after the latter announced his retirement in March 2012.

Since India will be playing a Test series for the first time after the The Wall Rahul Dravid announced his retirement, it will be interesting to see how the team fares, as Dravid provided the much needed balance to the team with his temperament and rock-solid attitude at the crease.

Now, with Cheteshwar Pujara also showing grit and confidence, his comeback would help the team, but will that suffix India's top order problems is yet another question that arises as Pujara needs time to settle down and the Indian Cricket team might not get immediate results.

Pujara, who is termed closest to Dravid in terms of technique, seems to be a likely replacement for The Wall as he has the temperament, ability to stay for more hours at hte crease and at the same time scores at a good pace, as he has not disappointed the selectors during his domestic circuit.

While Pujara also wants to keep himself grounded, after making a comeback as he said he should not get carried away by such things as this is just the beginning of his career as he has played only 3 Tests so far.

He also said that it was a privilege to be compared with Dravid, but also stressed that he is just starting his career while the legend has been the third highest run-scorer in Tests.

"It is privilege to be compared with Dravid but I am nowhere near him. He has scored more than 10,000 runs while I am just beginning my career," modest Pujara said, before adding, "Of course, I want to be among the runs and prove my worth."

Pujara also revealed that Dravid and Sehwag had motivated him to comeback strongly, as they showed faith in his abilities.

"Once during rehabilitation visit to NCA Bangalore, I came across Dravid and Sehwag. They called on me and inquired about my recovery. That made me feel better and increased my self-belief," he said.

Porbably that was the secret of his comeback, as he recovered from an injury and was confident of making it to the national side again as that followed up with a tremendous stint with India A team, which earned him a berth in the Test team.

Moreover, he is expected to take up Dravid's role at No 3 which in itself is a great honour, but it remains to be seen if the Rajkot-based cricket can live up to the expectations.